Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Kilsallaghan parish, Co. Dublin in the Thirteenth Century

Kilsallaghan
parish, Co. Dublin in the Thirteenth Century

Niall
C.E.J. O’Brien

The civil parish of
Kilsallaghan is situated in the Barony of Castleknock, Co. Dublin, and about
eight miles north of Dublin. The village of Kilsallaghan with the ruins of a medieval
church and castle is situated on the old mail coach road between Dublin and
Drogheda, now the R122. The parish comprises about 2,595 acres, mostly devoted
to arable farming.[1]
Kilsallaghan means the church of the wood of the osiers.[2]

This article recounts
some events and activity in the parish in the thirteenth century. There are a
few references to Kilsallaghan in the twelfth century such as in c.1185 when
half the tithes, alms and benefices attached to the land of Roger Poher in
Kilsallaghan was granted by Archbishop John to his clerk, Audoen son of William
Brun, with other property and income for
life.[3]

In
the time of King John

The earliest reference
to Kilsallaghan, or Kilsalthan as it was also written, comes early after the
Anglo-Norman Conquest. In 1169-1180, it is said that Prince John, Count of
Mortain, granted the church of Kilsallaghan to the Abbey of St. Thomas the
Martyr in Dublin with the consent of Aubertus Secard. But Prince John did not
become Count of Mortain until 1189 and so there may be a mix up in dates over
the centuries. Nevertheless the grant was renewed in April 1202 by John as King
of England and Lord of Ireland. An inspeximus and confirmation of this grant
was made in January 1291.[4]

At about the same time
Richard de la Feld rented the land of Kilsallaghan from King John for an
unknown rent per annum. He also rented land in Chapelizod from the crown.[5] In
1201 Richard de la Feld was described as the Queen’s servant. On 7th
November 1201 Richard de la Feld was granted the land in Ireland which was
formerly held by Elias de Pinkney.[6] It
is not clear if Kilsallaghan formed part of these lands once held by Elias de
Pinkney.

In
the time of King Henry III

On 17th
August 1220 King Henry III made a grant to Thomas Fitz Adam of the land of
Chapelizod and Kilsallaghan which was formerly leased by Richard de la Feld
from King John. Thomas Fitz Adam was to hold the land during the king’s
pleasure at a rent of 100s per year.[7] The
children of Richard de la Feld must have been minors in 1220 and thus could not
get seisin of their father’s property. Sometime after this, the Justiciar of
Ireland extended the lands to 30 librates which pleased the King. A librate of
land was so much land as was worth £1 per year. But on 7th December
1220 Henry III wrote to the Justiciar of Ireland to give the lands to Thomas
Fitz Adam for a yearly farm of £10 payable to the Dublin Exchequer.[8]

Thomas Fitz Adam and
Richard de la Feld had known each other for a number of years and were trusted people
by the crown. In July 1218 the two men transported over £493 from Ireland to
the Exchequer in London.[9]

Thomas
Fitz Adam

In 1210 Thomas Fitz
Adam was part of the army of King John which advanced into Ulster in pursuit of
William de Breouse and the de Lacy rebels. Up to November 1213 Thomas Fitz Adam
was constable of Dublin castle when he was instructed to deliver the castle to
Henry, Archbishop of Dublin. In June 1217 the justiciar of Ireland was told to
help Thomas Fitz Adam to fortify his castle of Corcobasky Ethragh (Co. Clare) which
he held of the Bishop of Norwich. In July 1218 Thomas Fitz Adam was named as
the first escheator of Ireland. In August 1219 Thomas Fitz Adam was granted
custody of all the royal forests in Ireland.[10]

In March 1221 Thomas
Fitz Adam was made a justice itinerant with Bartholomew de Camera. In October
1223 Thomas Fitz Adam was made constable of Athlone castle and in December 1223
Laurence, Thomas’s servant, was paid 2 marks for travelling between England and
Ireland on government business.[11]

Nicholas
de la Feld

Richard de la Feld was
dead well before November 1223 when his son Nicholas de la Feld and Richard’s
two daughters were involved in a case of serious constitutional concern.
Nicholas de la Feld had sought by assise of Mort
d’ancestor in the King’s court to recover two carucates of land at
Kelredheri from the Abbot of St. Thomas in Dublin. But an objection of bastardy
was entered against Nicholas de la Feld and the proceedings were halted. The
King’s justices ordered Nicholas de la Feld to establish his legitimacy in the
court of the Henry, Archbishop of Dublin. After producing evidence to prove his
legitimacy the Archbishop was about to give sentence when two daughters of
Richard de la Feld, minors at the time, appeared before the court and objected
to sentence as they would be precluded from claiming any inheritance. The
Archbishop then stopped the case and sent the cause to the Pope.

When Henry III heard
that the case was sent to Rome, he was “much moved with wonder” at the actions
of the Archbishop. In November 1223 the King wrote to Archbishop Henry that he
had ample proof of the legitimacy of Nicholas de la Feld and should have given
sentence. The two daughters were not part of the court proceedings and could
have claimed any rights they may have had through the King’s courts. More
importantly Henry III told the Archbishop that he had erred in declining the
King’s right of inquiry and transferring the case to a foreign dignitary (the
Pope). At the time of the case Archbishop Henry was Justiciar of Ireland and
therefore the King’s representative in Ireland. He should have sent the case on
to the King and the English council. The King ordered the Archbishop to declare
Nicholas de la Feld to be legitimate and send any appeal to the King’s courts
according to the law and custom of Ireland.[12]

But the matter was not
so quickly solved and on 10th March 1224 Henry III wrote to the
Archbishop of Dublin, in his capacity as Justiciar of Ireland, to take the two
carucates of land at Kilredheri into the king’s hand until further orders. By
the letter it would appear that the legitimacy of Nicholas de la Feld was not
yet confirmed.[13]

Nicholas
de la Feld and Kilsallaghan

Yet Nicholas de la Feld
was not for waiting round to hear the Archbishop’s judgement. In the winter and
spring of 1223-24 Nicholas Fitz Richard de la Feld made a claim to Henry III
for his father’s lands in the vills
of Chapelizod and Kilsallaghan. Nicholas offered the King 60 marks to have
Richard’s lands and pay £20 a year in rent. On 12th March 1224 Henry
III wrote to the Justiciar of Ireland to inquire how much land Richard de la
Feld held in capite in the vills; how much was it worth yearly; and
whether Richard de la Feld held it by lease from King John or by gift.[14]

In April 1225 Nicholas
de la Feld did homage to Henry III for the land which his father, Richard de la
Feld, held in Clensuerd. On 22nd April the King instructed the
Justiciar of Ireland to give Nicholas seisin of the land.[15]
All doubts to the legitimacy of Nicholas de la Feld must have been well put
aside by 1225 and it is possible that by that time Nicholas had also got seisin
of his father’s lands at Chapelizod and Kilsallaghan. On 11th May
1225 Nicholas’s standing got a further boost when he was appointed custodian of
the door of the Exchequer in Dublin.[16]

St David's Church, Kilsallaghan

Reginald
of Kilsallaghan

After 1225 we hear no
more about Nicholas de la Feld until 1240. In the meantime another person
enters the Kilsallaghan story. In 1228 Reginald of Kilsallaghan paid 2s to John
Travers, sheriff of Dublin, for rent of the royal lands, presumingly in
Kilsallaghan.[17]
A person called Reginald de Kilsallaghan, or more correctly his wife, appears
often in the public records in the reign of Edward the First as noted below.

Nicholas
de la Feld in the 1240s

In 1240 the two
carucates of land at Kilredheri (Kilrethelin) came once again to the courts
attention. Before September 1240 twelve knights formed a jury in an assize
before the justice in eyre at Dublin to hear a dispute between the Abbot of St.
Thomas, Dublin and Nicholas de la Feld. The result of the assize is unknown but
it would appear that the jury sided with the Abbot. Nicholas de la Feld lodged
an appeal to Henry III. On 18th September 1240 Henry III instructed
Maurice Fitzgerald, Justiciar of Ireland, to cause the twelve knights who
formed the jury to come before the King when Henry III came to Dublin after
Easter 1226. The Abbot of St. Thomas was also to attend.[18]

We hear no more of
Nicholas de la Feld for another eight years until 1248 when he was a member of
the jury who inquired into the lands formerly belonging to Walter de Ridlesford
in the Vale of Dublin. These lands were held by Walter de Ridlesford since at
least 1216 and were claimed by Christina de Marisco, one of his daughters and
heirs.[19]
We hear no more of Nicholas de la Feld after 1248 and must presume that he died
without any heirs.

Other
references to Kilsallaghan

In about 1262 Robert de
Clahull, sheriff of Dublin, collected rents from Kilsallaghan but the amount
was not recorded.[20]
in about 1270 William de Cadewelly held land on the bounds of Kilsallaghan as
it bordered the land of Thomas son of John Leonis in Kilreske.[21]

Kilsallaghan
in the time of King Edward I

In 1284 the crown
collected a half mark (6s 8d) in rent from the lands in Kilsallaghan which
formerly belonged to Reginald de Kilsallaghan.[22] On
14th November 1285, Sarah Condam, wife of Reginald de Kilsallaghan,
paid 40d (pence), or a quarter mark (3s 4d), to the Dublin Exchequer for the
rent of Reginald’s land.[23]

On 30th
January 1286 Sarah Condam, written as Sarah of Kilsalaghan, paid 4s for the
rent of Reginald’s land.[24]
On 29th May 1286 Sarah Condam, now known as Sarah de Benford, paid
40d for the rent of Reginald’s land.[25]
On 11th February 1287 Thomas de Isham paid the 4s rent on Reginald’s
former lands at Kilsallaghan.[26]
On 21st October 1287 Sarah of Kilsallaghan made two payments to the
Dublin Exchequer of 3s 4d and 3s 8d for Reginald’s land.[27]

On 9th April
1288, 8th October 1288 and on 2nd May 1289 Sarah of
Kilsallaghan paid 40d each time for the land of Kilsallaghan to the Exchequer.
On 9th December 1290 Sarah de Beanford paid 11d for the rent of
Kilsallaghan.[28]

On 20th
October 1291 Sarah de Beanford paid 40d to the Dublin Exchequer for the rent of
Beanford and again on 15th April 1292 for Beanford.[29] There
was a place near Black Hall in the Parish of Balrothery, Co. Dublin which was
called Benford in 1606 and was owned by Philip Hore who also owned the manor of
Kilsallaghan.[30]
On 7th October 1292 Sarah de Beanford paid 40d to the Dublin
Exchequer for the rent of land which formerly belonged to Roger de
Kilsallaghan.[31]
On 3rd December 1298 and again on 26th November 1299
Sarah de Beanford paid another 40d for the rent of Kilsallaghan to the Exchequer.[32]

It is not clear for how
long Sarah de Beanford held the land of Kilsallaghan. Sarah de Beanford was not
the only woman to hold property in Kilsallaghan. Before 1355 Joan Locard held
various parcels of land, rents and tenements of the manor of Kilsallaghan which
on her death passed to her son, Robert Cruys.[33] By
the sixteenth century the manor of Kilsallaghan was held by Sir Christopher
Plunkett of Rathmore.[34]

Church
of Kilsallaghan

In 1202 the church of
Kilsallaghan was granted by King John to the Abbey of St. Thomas the Martyr in
Dublin as noted above. The church was dedicated to St. David which possibly
indicates early Welsh settlement in the area. In 1275 the abbot of St. Thomas held
Kilsallaghan church for his own use.[35]

In the papal taxation
of 1302-6 the parish of Kilsallaghan was located in the deanery of Swords and
was worth 7 marks (£4 13s 4d) with the tenth worth 9s 4d. Kilsallaghan was the
poorest parish in the deanery of Swords apart from the vicarage of Hollywood
(46s 8d) which was entered separately to the parish of Hollywood (£10 13s 4d).[36] Kilsallaghan
parish remained in the deanery of Swords until the end of the medieval period.[37]

In 1532 the Abbey of
St. Thomas the Martyr still held Kilsallaghan church along with a chapel at
Chapelmidway (midway between Kilsallaghan and the church of St. Margaret).[38] In
1540 the tithes of Kilsallaghan were leased to Thomas Stephens with the rectory
of Grenock and other property by the Abbey of St. Thomas the Martyr.[39]
No mention is made of St. Thomas abbey directly holding Kilsallaghan apart from
this reference to the parish tithes. Local complaints at the time said that lay
impropriators had taken over church property in Kilsallaghan, Howth and
Holmpatrick.[40]

At the suppression of
St. Mary’s abbey in Dublin in 1540 it was found that the abbey held one
messuage and 30 acres arable, pasture and meadow land at Stradbally in
Kilsallaghan from Thomas Plunkett.[41]
In the same year of 1540 the priory of Gracedieu held a messuage and garden at
Stradbally worth 3s from Sir Thomas Plunkett.[42]
It is not known when St. Mary’s and Gracedieu acquired these lands.

After the medieval
period the parish church of Kilsallaghan fell into decay. In 1615 the chancel
was in ruins while the nave was still standing but by 1630 the entire church
was in ruins. In 1812 a new church of St. David was built at Kilsallaghan and
in 1871 the parish was united with Swords.[43]

Bibliography

Griffith, M.C. (ed.), Calendar of inquisitions formerly in the
Office of the Chief Remembrancer of the Exchequer (Irish Manuscripts
Commission, Dublin, 1991)

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The medieval world seems so far away yet much of what we see and do today comes from that distant world. This blog will feature articles on the medieval world in Ireland and Britain - the Celtic 2 Realms - Hope you enjoy and have fun with all things medieval.